Progressive Multiplier Fund Featured in Inside Philanthropy

A group of foundations and other donors have pooled their resources to provide grants and loans that help progressive causes test new fundraising ideas or expand existing fundraising efforts.

The Progressive Multiplier Fund, as the new grantmaking entity is called, has raised more than $2 million to be distributed in the next 12 months. Already, the six-month-old fund has made two grants totaling $50,000 to test new fundraising ideas.

It will make larger loans to organizations seeking to expand promising fundraising programs. In those cases, a charity would repay the loan, which is called a “recoverable grant,” and keep anything over the amount it borrowed. If an organization fails to earn enough to repay the loan, the Progressive Multiplier Fund will forgive the shortfall.

The next deadline for grant and loan applicants is October 19.

“The challenge social change groups face is that they need new ways to generate revenue,” says Linda Wood, a senior director with the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, which donated $125,000 to the Progressive Multiplier Fund. “Smaller groups are especially limited,” Wood says. “Midsize groups underinvest in fundraising, and even large groups leave money on the table. A lot of boards and nonprofit executives are reluctant to invest in fundraising.”